Letters to the Editor – April 21, 2010
Rollin ruins Nursing
The proposal to eliminate the Nursing Program at Humboldt State University is just the most recent example of Rollin Richmond’s failed leadership. At a time when we needed an administration that fostered cooperation and a spirit of shared sacrifice in order to find just solutions to our current challenges, Rollin Richmond and Bob Snyder pursued a path of administrative expansion coupled with program elimination based on threats and intimidation. How can HSU claim to teach the values of community, creativity, critical thinking and social justice when a program’s survival is only secured by throwing someone else under the bus?
Program elimination is forever. It devastates our students, diminishes this university, and threatens the local community. Contact Rollin Richmond and Bob Snyder. Write to our local and statewide leaders. Contact the CSU Board of Trustees and Chancellor Charles Reed. Tell them that you oppose program elimination and support the continuation of the Nursing Program at HSU. Tell them you don’t support harming any more students and that the bankrupt policy of program elimination is unworthy of a university that once put students and education first.
Whether Rollin Richmond lets the Academic Senate or Bob Snyder take the fall for this shameful proposal, Richmond himself is the person responsible.
Convey your concerns to:
Charles Reed Chancellor CSU creed@calstate.edu
Board of Trustees, CSU bot@calstate.edu
Rollin Richmond, President HSU rollinr@humboldt.edu
Bob Snyder, Provost HSU ras1@humboldt.edu
Saeed Mortazavi, Chair, Academic Senate HSU sm5@humboldt.edu
Academic Senate members mbs7001@humboldt.edu
c: Kay LaBahn Clark, German kjl3@humboldt.edu
Kay LaBahn Clark
Bayside
Art Ed is vital
I work in the Northern Humboldt Union High School District, at Arcata High School, where parents, students, teachers, and administrators know that the arts help our students succeed.
Studies show that arts education promotes basic academic skills and helps develop well-rounded students, who are able to think clearly, express their thoughts and solve complex problems.
Our administrators know that schools with strong arts education decrease drop-out rates, engage at-risk youth, and help us raise engaged citizens. Arts instruction leads to valuable skills such as effective communication, critical and innovative thinking, cooperation and flexibility – all crucial to jobs of the future.
It is because of this understanding and commitment to the needs of our community that the Northern Humboldt Union High School District is considering putting a bond issue before the voters to facilitate the construction of a sorely needed Visual and Performing Arts building on the Arcata High School campus.
The fact that we have a thriving visual and performing arts program at Arcata High school despite a woefully inadequate facility is strong proof that this is an appropriate measure to take for our students and community.
Please voice your support for this opportunity to deliver a high quality education with the arts to all of our students at AHS.
Tell our administrators that you believe that art education helps our students to learn today and to thrive tomorrow.
NHUHSD Office: (707) 839-6470 or e-mail Dr. Kenny Richards – krichards@nohum.k12.ca.us
Dr. Brian Stephens – bstephens@nohum.k12.ca.us
Art Matters • Art Works
Respectfully,
Anne Bown-Crawford
Director, Arcata Arts Institute,
Arcata High School
Save Richardson Grove
A varied thrush, black as charred redwood, orange as redwood duff, sits briefly on a fence post. A chipmunk, caught between curiosity and caution, considers me then skittles off to the trees. How will the creatures of this forest cross a wider, faster highway?
I appreciate the well researched letters that have informed us on the Caltrans plan to redesign Richardson Grove. Thank you for the facts and reasoned approaches to balancing our community’s economy and quality of life.
I sit in Richardson Grove right now, and from this vantage point I would like to speak for something many of us feel. I would like to speak for love. When I drive to or from Humboldt County, I love driving through this park. I love slowing down, rolling down the windows and feeling the close comfort of the trees: The way they absorb sound, provide shade, forest scents, pattern, color, texture. I roll down the windows and breathe deeply. The passage through this grove, this State Park, is welcome rejuvenation from the freeway part of the the journey. I suspect this may be true for many travelers.
Therefore I support saving Richardson Grove from any demolition. It is and will be OK to slow down. It would even be OK to stop for a few minutes in order to preserve this jewel on the journey to and from Humboldt and Del Norte Counties.
Cindy Kuttner
Arcata
Hooper helping Haiti
Local physician Andrew Hooper recently returned from Haiti and then went right back hoping to continue his work with a local clinic there struggling to address the multiple needs of that local population. The needs are many but he was so moved by the depth of the problem and the spirit of those he met there that he is hoping to establish a local fund that could be used very specifically for supplies and needs of that population that he encountered.
I realize that there have been many funds set up, one local group plans to establish a prosthetics lab and that is a very noble project and will serve a very specific group who are in great need. His dream is slightly more global and more immediate. With the rains having started there is little time to heal the many and various wounds and treat the many and various diseases that will only be made worse by the worsening weather and subsequent living conditions. He has established a relationship with both a local clinic and hospital and with this fund will be able to provide for very specific needs that this group has. Frequently we donate to organizations and never know if our money went into more mailings or if it is even being used for the intended purpose or is being held onto because of some bureaucratic trap or disagreement.
Should you decide to donate to this fund, we will let you know specifically what it was spent on. These donations are also tax deductible due to the generosity of Open Door Community Health Center. They kindly donated multiple supplies for his first trip and have allowed us to attach this charitable fund to their tax ID number so that all donations can be deducted.
Those who know Dr. Hooper know that he is a man of integrity and heart who is as honest and hard working as the day is long and you will get your money’s worth out of him. I hope that if you are in a position to help this effort you will please send any donations to Open Door Community Health Center and write in the memo part that the money should be earmarked for the Hope for Haiti project. These should be sent to Open Door Community Health Center, attn: Jim Bella, CFO, 670 Ninth St. Suite 203, Arcata, CA 95521 and if you could please write Hope for Haiti on the outside of the envelope it will alert them to its contents.
Thank you very much for your generosity and thank you too to those who have already donated. Glen and Romy Tinseth, Danielle Mertz and Hitch, Lauren Sarabia, Open Door Community Health Center, St. Joseph’s Hospital, and Mad River Community Hospital – you’ve really helped Hooper achieve his dream to help this effort. We and they are truly grateful. Should you need to reach us you may call (707) 826-2826.
Thank you,
Joan Edwards
Arcata
City of Arcata to the rescue
Dear Mark,
Thanks for all you do!
I know that’s a cliche, but it’s heartfelt. You oversee so many of the things I love about Arcata , like the Marsh and the Community Forest, but you also take responsibility for things that aren’t so much fun but are necessary for those who live in or just outside the City. I’m speaking here of water, where your department really stepped up today.
I called City Hall around 2:30 when I first noticed the water pressure was low. Nice woman had to put me on hold for a few minutes, then came back with a message that was reassuring in its specificity: major break in a water main in the Buttermilk Lane area, should be fixed in three to four hours. Figuring there was no way we could cook without water, my husband and I left for Woodley Island around 5 p.m. to grab a bite. We stopped on Buttermilk to call encouragement to a bunch of your drenched workers. Smiles all around. Shouldn’t be more than two hours, one said. I wish I’d had a thermos of hot coffee or something for them.
A couple of hours later, we returned home warm, full, and happy. The water was back and the phone was blinking with a message from you telling us exactly what to do about the water pipes, where to call if that didn’t work, and, by the way, there are written instructions on our front door.
I don’t think I’ve ever lived in a community where public services are actually thought of as services. Thank you and all the folks who work for the City of Arcata for all you do!
Janet Zich
Arcata
Easter Egg thanks
On behalf of Arcata American Legion Post No. 274, I would like to extend my sincerest appreciation to the Arcata Chamber of Commerce and to the stores who donated to the American Legion Easter Egg Hunt held on April 3 on the Arcata Plaza. A very special THANKS to Ray’s Valley West, Wildberries of Arcata, Uniontown Safeway and Arcata Co-op who so generously donated all the eggs.
We are also deeply grateful to John Erickson, Scout Master, Scout Leaders, Scout Parents and the Troop 9 Boys Scouts for their help in hiding the eggs and in roping all the areas. A big thanks to all the members and to Nilo Speziale, Tony Gonzalves, and Paul Wilson, who gave their time to prepare all the eggs for this annual event. Another special thank you to VFW Post 2542 and to Steve Lochlin who donated prizes.
The huge success of this special occasion for the children of the community was due in large part to the cooperation and support of all these wonderful people.
Al Toste
Past Commander, American Legion Post 274
Arcata
